Only Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid, according to a former all-star batter, can explain India’s “big mistake” at the T20 World Cup.

In their first series against New Zealand since losing to them in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinals, India will take on the visitors. After a spectacular 10-wicket loss to England that ended their World Cup campaign, it gives India a chance to start over.

Since that game, several issues have been raised by former cricket players, but the absence of spinner Yuzvendra Chahal consistently comes up. The 32-year-old was a member of the squad and one of the first names on the team sheet before the tournament, but he ended up missing all of the games in Australia because India preferred to play with Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel in the starting eleven.

Only captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid can explain why they chose not to play Chahal, according to former India batter Mohammed Kaif, especially given that the competition was being held in Australia.

Due to the significance of this position, every team—whether it be England, Australia, or South Africa—uses a leg-spinner. According to the ICC rankings, four to five leg-spinners are among the top 10 bowlers. There isn’t much support for finger spinners in Australia. Due to the bounce, wrist spinners are employed. I made a mistake by ignoring Chahal. Only Rohit and Dravid can explain it.” According to Kaif, Sportskeeda.

India scored 168/6 while batting first. The debutantes for England, Jos Buttler, and Alex Hales made fun of the goal. They completed the chase with four overs left without losing, making it to the championship game and ultimately winning it. Kaif continued by pointing out how Varun Chakravarthy was chosen for the 2021 IPL instead of Chahal and claimed that selectors appear to be influenced by performances in the IPL. India was eliminated at that time during the Super 12 stage itself.

“Varun Chakravarthy was chosen for the most recent World Cup because of how well he performed in the IPL, which was played before the competition. The IPL performances hurt the selectors to the point where mistakes are made. Chahal did not participate in the tournament last year, and the same thing happened this year “said he.